Whats in a Name?

Hibiscus Flower Bloom Holders

2014-04-09T13:21:00.002-04:00

I live in the warm, moist climate of southwest Florida and I absolutely love hibiscus flowers. The blooms only last one day but they are large and showy. There are over 5000 varieties of hibiscus flowers. Hibiscus flower bloom holders are mentioned in the book "A Cutting Garden For Florida" by Betty Barr Mackey & Monica Moran Brandies.

In my search for a way to showcase these amazing blooms I discovered lovely single bloom flower vases. These graceful glass vases resemble an hibiscus bloom. One beautiful bloom fits the opening perfectly. Whenever you come across these little vases purchase them and shine them up so that you can place them on your table. This way you can enjoy a splendid bloom all day long.

You can see my extra clear and pink glass holders on sale in my etsy shop at:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/185554165/hibiscus-flower-vase-pink-glass?ref=shop_home_active_6

For more information on the history and care of hibiscus flowers check out the link below from the Flower Temple in Melbourne, Australia.

https://www.flowertemple.com.au/viewFlowerFromLibrary.aspx?fid=29&n=Hibiscus

Free BYU Independent Family History Courses

2011-11-26T16:09:00.001-05:00

Importance of education: BYU Independent Study offers no-cost online classes

By Ryan Morgenegg
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/61756/Importance-of-education-BYU-Independent-Study-offers-no-cost-online-classes.html

Church News staff writer

Published: Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011

Follow the link above to a great article that tells about the free courses offered by the BYU Independent Study Department. We have taken courses through this department and have always been impressed with the quality of information available. The family history courses offered will help you to begin your family history or to move your family lines further along.

FREE Beginning Genealogy Lesson #5

2011-11-04T17:46:00.002-04:00

In all important decisions we need to consider the source of our information. This article helps us to understand why we should check our genealogy sources carefully.

This great article is written by my friend, Bryan Mulcahy, from the Ft. Myers, Library.
Primary vs. Secondary Sources in Genealogical Research

For many beginning researchers, the terms primary and secondary information and sources can be confusing. Primary sources, briefly defined, are documents or records created at the time of, or shortly after, an event by either someone with personal knowledge of the facts or the actual testimony of a person involved in the event. In the ideal situation, informants may have been on the scene at the time of the event, and were close friends of the individual or family members. Unfortunately, it is possible that they may have been bystanders or neighbors whose knowledge of the individual or family may have been limited at best. Fortunately, if this was the case, authorities may have tried to locate family members to obtain additional details.

Primary sources are usually the first or earliest documents in which a particular piece of information was recorded. This source may be an official document or certificate, or a published work containing transcribed information from original documents or other primary sources. Records containing this scope of information may include diaries, journals, state or federal census records, courthouse records such as deeds, wills, probates, birth or death records, baptism or marriage records, ships passenger lists and military records. Primary records are, of course, the most reliable sources, but secondary records can provide you with many clues for further research.

Secondary sources are published works, including those distributed electronically, either copied or compiled from primary sources, or reflecting the conclusions of a researcher based on primary or secondary sources. Secondary information was usually provided by someone whose knowledge of data was not from firsthand knowledge. They may have been family members but were either away at the time the event occurred, estranged from the individual or family, or resided in distant localities.

Secondary sources are those records or other pieces of information that were created at some time after an event occurred. The passage of time, the lapse of memory, and the lack of knowledge (or ignorance) of the person providing the information all conspire to make the evidence less than reliable. In addition, an informant sometimes falsifies information for a variety of reasons. When analyzing information, regardless of whether it is a primary or secondary source, it is helpful to know the relationship between the informant to the individual or family. That relationship may shed light on the potential accuracy of the information.

Secondary sources should be viewed with skepticism until they are later verified in a primary source. By their very nature they should be suspect, and you should always seek additional evidence to either corroborate or contradict the facts they present. Examples of secondary sources may include family histories, bible records, indexes or compilations of census or marriage records, any sort of history (county, state, etc.), and collections of cemetery inscriptions.

Some documents can be both primary and secondary sources. Death certificates are notorious for their errors. Dependable information on a death certificate may include the name of the decedent, date and place of death, place of burial, and undertaker’s name. However, the key word is “may”. Always examine the date of death and the certificate's issue date. If there is any significant time lapse, look for other corroborating evidence elsewhere. Also, the date of birth, birth location, age, names of spouse, and names of parents are all secondary sources. Never take these details for fact. Remember that someone else acted as informant in order to fill out the certificate. If he or she didn't know the correct information, he/she may have guessed at it. Use these pieces of information as pointers, but always find other substantiating evidence.

BLM 11/4/2011

Bryan L. Mulcahy

Reference Librarian

Fort Myers-Lee County Library

2050 Central Avenue

Fort Myers, FL 33901-3917

Halloween Family History-Style

2011-10-30T17:23:00.001-04:00

This is an excellent Halloween article from ancestry.com written by Juliana Smith

28 October 2011

Legend has it, on Halloween the veil between this world and the next is lifted a bit. I for one am hoping that when that happens tomorrow, a few of my ancestors will reveal themselves. (Note to William Dennis—if you could reveal yourself through the 1860 census, that would be awesome.)

So while I’m not a huge fan of “all things gruesome,” I do feel somewhat of a connection with Halloween. I mean, as family historians we’re all about dead people, right? We love cemeteries, obituaries, death and burial records, and really anything death-related.

Ghost stories? Since our favorite stories are about people who have passed on, I think they qualify. And of course, if you’ve been doing family history for a while, you’ve probably uncovered a skeleton or two in the closet. Sure you can still hand out candy to the kiddies, but here are ways you can celebrate Halloween “family history-style.”

Put Some Flesh on That Skeleton
Today we have online trees and software that make it easy to organize and keep track of names, dates, and places. They form a framework—or skeleton if you will—for our family history. But they’re not the story. The story lies in the details we find in the records.

What was your ancestor’s occupation and what might that work have been like? Census records and directories are good places to learn about their occupations. Take it a step further by researching that occupation online, and in books and periodicals.

Were they active in their church? Look into the history of your ancestor’s church. You may find him or her mentioned in a published history of the religious community.

Were they educated, and could they read and write? Most of us have seen the columns in censuses noting whether an ancestor could read or write, or noting “at school” in the occupational field, but have we ever put that together with their ages? Or how old they are when you first find them listed as employed? In the 1880 U.S. Census, my great-grandmother’s two sisters, aged fifteen and seventeen are employed as coffee packers. Another column in that census revealed that when that enumeration was taken in June, their father had been unemployed for three months of that census year. It’s possible they had to leave school to help supplement the family income.

Were there health issues that impacted the family? By looking into the causes of death, both primary and secondary, we can gain helpful insights into the family life. Often, the attending physician had to note how long the deceased had been in his care. This could indicate whether there was a lengthy illness or whether the death was sudden and unexpected.

Locating Cemeteries and Other Haunts
Genealogists are ahead of the curve when it comes to appreciating cemeteries, but sometimes locating them is half the battle. If you can get your hands on a good local map for the vicinity in which you are searching, you may find some larger cemeteries outlined on the map. In other cases you might have to turn to local resources.

Genealogical societies are a good starting place. Like you, the genealogists in that group are likely cemetery enthusiasts and probably know a lot about graveyards in the area—large and small. They may have even canvassed the cemetery and published an index, abstracts, or transcriptions from the headstones or other cemetery records.

Often a death certificate, obituary, or some other death-related record will include the name of the cemetery where your ancestor is buried. If not, map out the cemeteries that are near where the individual lived.

For those searching in the U.S., the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a very useful tool . Select the state and county name and “cemetery” from the “Feature Class” drop-down menu, you can see a list of cemeteries for a particular county.

From the list of results, you can click on each cemetery name for more information and to map the location using a number of mapping tools that will give you the exact location of the cemetery.

You can also locate some of your ancestors’ other “haunts” using this tool, including schools, churches, and “populated places.” Maps show streams, rivers, ponds, wooded areas, mountains, valleys, etc. If you have an obscure U.S. town or feature name associated with your ancestor, this is a great place to look.

Communicating with the Dead
Superstitions say that Halloween is a good time to communicate with the deceased. Of course, I do that all the time. Usually the conversation is one-sided with a lot of pleading on my end and silence on their end, but occasionally, I could swear I hear laughing. (Of course, that could be my husband.)

GENEALOGY GIFT CERTIFICATES

2011-10-22T20:24:00.001-04:00

Family Search Gift Certificates

From Legacy Locators

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You will receive an emailed gift certificate copy and a printed certificate will be mailed to you or your friend/family in a lovely gift card.

The card will include the name of the sender and the amount of research hours due to the card recipient.

The recipient may contact Legacy Locators to schedule the time frame for the work to be completed. All work will be completed in a timely manner.

Gift certificates are available in the following amounts.

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For more information or to see testimonials click here:
Legacy Locators

Some family trees have beautiful leaves, and some have just a bunch of nuts. Remember, it is the nuts that make the tree worth shaking.
~Author Unknown

FREE Genealogy Course

2011-10-07T10:26:00.002-04:00

Lesson #4

What Records Tell Us

Franklin Guy Rivers Draft Registration

CENSUS RECORDS

Each census record will tell you different things! The US started censuses in 1790 and the UK started in 1841. The US releases censuses to the public every 72 years, the UK every 100 years. The 1940 US census record will be available in the spring of 2012.
Not every census record is available (1890 US census was mostly destroyed and most of Ireland’s census records were burned).
If you find an ancestor on a census but can’t find them in the next census, search the next census by the address where they lived. It could be they’re still there!
Check out who lives next door to your ancestor; oftentimes relatives lived close together. If someone lived on your ancestor’s street with the same last name, that could be another ancestor for you!
A CENSUS CAN TELL YOU:

An ancestor’s occupation.
Where they were born and their age.
Where their parents came from.
If they immigrated or if they’re citizens.

A RESOURCE FOR CENSUSES: familysearch.org

IMMIGRATION RECORDS:

There are different kinds of immigration records: emigration (leaving a country), passenger lists (ship records), immigration (coming into a country), and naturalization (becoming a citizen).
The older a naturalization record is (1800s), the less it will tell you.
Before 1892 most immigrants immigrated into New York through Castle Garden Port, not Ellis Island!

Harry Blimes' Naturalization Document

A PASSENGER LIST CAN TELL YOU:

Country of origin.
If any relatives were traveling with them.
Ancestor’s occupation.
Ancestor’s destination.

A NATURALIZATION RECORD CAN TELL YOU:

Details of where the ancestor came from.
Name of parents.
Current residence.
Occupation.

A RESOURCE FOR NATURALIZATION RECORDS: familysearch.org
A RESOURCE FOR PASSENGER LISTS:
ellisisland.org,

Minnie Estell Tolliver Death Certificate

castlegarden.org

VITAL RECORDS:

Vital records are birth, marriage, and death records for an ancestor.
Social Security Death Index is useful for people who died after 1960’s.
In 1837 England began civil registration (registering vital records on a governmental level). Before that all vital records were recorded by the parish (areas based on proximity to local church). Therefore it’s IMPORTANT to find out which religion your ancestor followed!
A VITAL RECORD CAN TELL YOU:

Names of ancestor’s parents.
Time and place of an event (birth, marriage, death) took place.
Cause of death.
Maiden name (if marriage record).

FREE Genealogy Course

2011-10-03T12:12:00.001-04:00

Lesson #3
Where to Find Information

Are you the last one left of your family?

Hopefully not!

But do ask your oldest ancestors soon to tell you the stories and myths surrounding your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Get all of the names, dates and areas where your ancestors lived. These memories will provide invaluable clues as you search for histories of those who have gone before. My husband’s great grandfather accidentally killed his best friend in a bar fight in Nelsonville, Ohio. He fled to West Virginia and thought he was hiding out but the sheriff from Nelsonville tracked him down, brought him home to Nelsonville and put him in jail. We learned about this escapade by reading an article in the Nelsonville newspaper because the family was embarrassed and did not share this story with the rising generation. The best part of the story is that the only witness to the killing was a young girl who went to visit great grandpa in the jail and then married him so she would not have to testify against him. A GREAT story, right? It might never have been documented if we had relied on what grandma was willing to tell us. Always check a lot of sources.

Finding census records is a major help in documenting relationships. Census records since 1860 list the members of the household and you can tell by the ages how the relationships work. Census records from 1880 and later tell the relationships. Now that you have some names, dates and areas where your ancestors lived here are some sites where you can locate census records for your ancestors. Google US census records for more sites. Google is great for all things genealogy.

www.familysearch.org

www.censusfinder.com

www.searchforancestors.com

www.us-census.org

www.census-online.com/links

www.ancestry.com/Census

Email me at sylviablimes@yahoo.comand I will send you a census abstract form to help you organize the information contained on a census record. This form was created by Linda Kralman-Lambert, ILGenWeb Coordinator for Effingham County, Illinois © 2005

Don’t forget to write your own history for the generations to come. Your stories will keep your memory alive to them.

"This packrat has learned that what the next generation will value most is not what we owned, but the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we loved. In the end, it's the family stories that are worth the storage."
-Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe

If you need a giggle check out our Halloween decorated website at
http://www.wix.com/bblimes/blimes-research-services

FREE Genealogy Course

2011-10-02T09:54:00.000-04:00

FREE Genealogy Lesson #2

Where to Put Your Information

Shake your family tree and watch the nuts fall!

Most trees can be transferred from one genealogy program to another by putting the information into a gedcom (genealogical data communication) file. All of the names, dates and relationships will transfer correctly but media (stories and pictures) does not transfer in a gedcom file. So choosing a good base file is important if you like to add ancestral stories and their pictures.

Free sites:

https://www.familysearch.org - This is my favorite free site. It has never charged and it never will. There is no small freebie section that will become too full so that you have to purchase a subscription in order to continue to build your tree. No need to make a purchase to see documents.

www.rootsweb.ancestry.com - The free version of ancestry.com. You can download an existing gedcom file or build your tree from scratch. My second favorite choice.

www.myheritage.com - A good site but you have to purchase a premium account to build a large tree. This site uses family tree builder. www.archives.com - Claims to be a free search site but you have to register for a free 7 day trial if you want to see the information that they found. After the free trial you must pay.

usgenweb.org - This is a good place to search if you know the area where your ancestors lived. It is more complicated than some other sites but it does have a lot of historical county information.

Sites that charge:

www.ancestry.com - $159 per year for US records. $299 per year for world records. Give or get gift certificates. This is my site of choice because of the number of world-wide records. The charge is reasonable for what you get. You do need to be careful and verify the information that you find already collected on other family trees.

www.progenealogists.com - has a good list of the 50 most popular genealogy websites, which includes search sites, at: http://www.progenealogists.com/top50genealogy2011.htm

A review of the top 10 best genealogy websites http://genealogy-websites.no1reviews.com/cyndislist has a comprehensive, categorized & cross-referenced list of links that point you to genealogical research sites online.

http://www.cyndislist.com/I have never been able to figure out how to use cyndislist for research so if anyone out there knows how to use this list and has been successful in using it for research please let me know how you did it.

Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts!!!

If you have any questions or you need help getting started or if you are stuck pushing at a brick wall, please contact me and I will help you.

Free Genealogy Course

2011-09-29T15:59:00.001-04:00

Genealogy Lesson #1

Why do family history?

As a young girl I enjoyed hearing the stories of my ancestors. My mother read to me from a book called, “Jeremiah Woodbury & His Family”. It contained rich accounts of her father’s family and even included my mother’s name. There were tales of the early Mormon pioneers who crossed the ocean to come to America and then pulled handcarts across the prairie to join the Saints in Utah. These stories of those who are long gone, are a part of who I am. When my children were small I read these stories to them. Now they have a copy of the book to read to their children and I no longer have a life because I am a genealogist.

In the Foreword to the book Ethnic Genealogy: A Research Guide, Alex Haley wrote: “Tracing ancestors as far back as possible has brought to many people great satisfaction and pleasure. Even documenting one's family thoroughly for but a few generations can prove just as exciting and fulfilling as a more sketchy documentation across two or three centuries. Each individual ancestral relative previously unknown and genealogically discovered is its own special thrill! No less thrilling is the discovery of records rich with information, which would have remained untouched, which would never have come to light, unless you had gotten caught up in the multiple, magnetic lures of genealogy.”

Who doesn’t like to solve a good mystery puzzle? Many books and TV shows are plotted on an intriguing mystery. TCasteel, who writes the Tangled Trees blog says: “Genealogy and mysteries, they go together rather well.” Solving who your ancestors are and how they are related to you can be very satisfying. Finding their stories and pictures from their life not only keeps their memory alive but brings you great piece.

When you search for ancestors, you find great friends!

If you have any questions or you need help getting started or if you are stuck pushing at a brick wall, please contact me and I will help you.

Autobiography of George Plant Ward

2011-09-09T19:48:00.000-04:00

Written in Salem, Idaho on January 31, 1899

The biography of your humble servant commences at the early dawn of January 1, 1828, at Newborough, Northamptonshire, England. I am the son of John Ward and Ann Woods, who were born at Eye, Northamptonshire, England, and North Lufnaham, Ruthlandshire, England, respectfully. My parents were in humble circumstances and the common education of life was not attainable, in consequence of which my education was limited. I spent the first twenty years of my life on the farm and at the time of the inauguration of the Free Trade Law, which proved to be very detrimental to the renters, my father was compelled to leave the farm. In consequence I turned my attention to the bakery and grocery business in which I was successful.
I was married March 28th , 1849 to Sarah Ann Plant who bore me four children. At this time we were living in West Walton in Norfolk County. There were no Latter-Day Saints in the vicinity until late in the fall of 1850. My wife and I first heard the Gospel preached on the first Sunday in January 1851, and were baptized on the 23rd, of the same month. I was ordained to the Priesthood in February following, and ordained an elder in March of the same year. I commenced my missionary labors on the day I was ordained an elder and was successful in the work, as we had a new branch of sixteen members: my father, mother, youngest brother, and two sisters being among the number. We had much joy in our labors for the Lord was with us.
At a conference held at Bedford I was called as a missionary, sold out my business and left on Nov. 1st , 1851, leaving my wife, child, father, mother, brother and sisters. I was appointed to labor at New Market and vicinity. After two weeks of continuous labors I was unable to get a meeting in the great town of New Market. I then directed my labors to the surrounding county and was very successful in so doing. In a small town called Seahim. I baptized sixteen unto the church, and a very successful branch was organized. After this I was appointed to labor in the Southampton conference, in the branches of which my labors were abundantly blessed in the bringing of many souls to the truths of the Gospel, and the building up of the various organizations. I labored in this conference during 1853 and 1854. In 1855 I was called to labor in Scotland and was appointed by the presidency to labor in the different branches of the Glasgow conference, in which I was blessed in the counseling of my brethren and the Saints.
In the reformation of 1857 my president (the president of the Glasgow Conference) baptized me after I had first baptized him, We together baptized forty of the members of the conference and continued our labors in this direction throughout the different branches, in which was manifest to us that we were all accepted of the Lord. During this year I was called by Apostle E. T. Benson to labor in the Dundee Conference; while laboring in this conference, I was up to hold a discussion for three nights at Airbraugh. The subjects were arranged by Apostle Benson, which ended in a perfect victory for the Gospel, my opponent having given up and was satisfied in two nights, he being incapable and not desiring to continue longer. After visiting the different branches, we went to old Bonie Aberdien where I received a call from the Liverpool office notifying me that I was appointed to preside over the Liverpool conference. A short time after commencing my labors in Liverpool I had the misfortune of losing my wife who was called by death; two weeks after the death of my wife, I also lost a daughter in death leaving me with two children to mourn the loss of our dear ones.
I had the good luck in getting Sister Clegg at Stockton (of Stockport) in whose tender care I placed my children, and by whom they were given every attention possible.
Continuing my labors with much pleasure and being blessed by the power of God, we labored diligently in the up-building, and bringing many to the cause of truth. In the fall of the same year I was called to preside over the Irish Mission. In connection with my brethren we labored with much satisfaction and with the blessings of the Lord. I was pleased with the opportunity to labor in this part of the Lord’s Vineyard. In the fall of 1858 I was appointed to labor in the Manchester Conference, having much pleasure in visiting the branches, and was an instrument in the organizing of branches that had become disorganized.
In July 1860, on July 21, I was again married, taking to wife Martha Monks, daughter of John and Alice Monks, and who was born Sept. 14th, 1839, near Bolton, Lanchestershire, England. (She bore me ten children. She died May 8th, 1899, after a useful life.)
I was appointed captain of the guard on the ship Manchester. We were 27 days and nine hours coming from Liverpool to New York. After a long and tiresome journey, we arrived in Florence, Nebraska and stayed in camp here for six weeks, leaving with ox teams under the care of Ira Eldgredge, arriving in Salt Lake City, Sept. 14th, 1861. Our riches consisted of fifty cents cash. My wife and two children had no shoes. All was well. We visited father and mother (John and Ann Woods Ward) at Ft. Herriman for six weeks and then started for Wellsville, Cache County, and arrived there October 25, 1861.
In November, my wife and I enjoyed the privilege of receiving our endowments in the Salt Lake Endowment house.
In March 1862, we moved to Hyrum, Cache Co. I was appointed president of the teachers quorum shortly after arriving, which position I held for fifteen years, acting on many occasions as bishop of the ward and was called as one of the (members of the High Council previous to the reorganization of the Stakes of Zion) appointees of organization of the Stakes of Zion. I had the privilege of being a member of the School of the Prophets. Shortly after this I was ordained a Seventy of the 64th Quorum.
During the epidemic of diphtheria there were seven of the family stricken, but by the blessings of the Lord we lost none.
On August 18, 1867, I married a plural wife, Sennie D. Nielsen, (daughter of Seron and Elsie Marie Nielsen, and who was born Sept. 25th 1846 in Yerring, Denmark) by whom there are nine children (Six of whom are living).

In the year 1871, I was again called to fulfill a mission in England, during which I was appointed as president of the Manchester conference, in which position I filled with pleasure and satisfaction to my brethren. On my return I was appointed captain of a company of 3 50 Saints sailing on the ship “Wisconsin.” In September 1872, I arrived home in the full blessing of health.
On reaching home in Hyrum I received a kind reception from my families who were all well, and from the saints who were glad to have me back. I employed myself on the farm and in the fall of 1873 I made up one thousand and fifteen gallons of sugar cane syrup.
At the time the Utah Northern railroad went through, I was cook for the company. Our quarters were at Richmond and Logan. After this I was agent for the Hyrum Lumber Co. in Logan. It was afterward called the Cache County Lumber Co. I was also secretary and treasurer for the Seventies of Hyrum, Paradise, Wellsville, and Millville. We employed two men to work on the Salt Lake Temple.
On March 30th , 1874, I again married, taking Jane Ashworth to wife. She was born Oct. 4th, 1853 and was the daughter of Edmond Ashworth and Alice Ashworth. She is the mother of four children. I left Hyrum in 1878 and moved to Randolph, Rich Co., Utah. From here we moved to Meadowville, Rich Co., Utah, and from there we moved to Snake River Valley, arriving in the latter place September 21st, 1884, and settled in Salem.
I have had a family of 27 children; 18 living and nine dead. I have 30 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

LEGACY LOCATORS

2011-09-09T13:20:00.003-04:00

Here we go again.
(I wrote this blog back in January, 2010, when we began talking about building our "Legacy Locators" business. It is interesting to go back and look at how different our life was at that time. We worked 8 days on and 4 days off with little time to spend on genealogy. Now we get up in the morning and get on our computers and go to work, in our casual clothes, consulting with those who hire us to find dead people.)

All we did was go to tithing settlement (like we always do at the end of the year) and all of a sudden we are setting out on a new adventure. We met with Bishop Dunn and asked him what he wanted us to do? It had been suggested by our Stake President that we go on a mission and then one Sunday the Ward Clerk had us make out some forms to be submitted for us to be temple workers. We were becoming kind of confused as to what the Lord was going to have us do next to justify our continued existence. Bishop Dunn said that we needed to get our finances in order or we couldn't do any of those things and asked us what we would like to do. Bill told him that he likes to do his family history. The Bishop jumped on that and said, "You can do a family history business! There are lots of clients that will pay you to look up their history and tell them they are related to the guy who invented the toaster." Bill and I just looked at each other and smiled. We had thought about trying a business doing genealogy but we did not think anyone had the money to pay us to look up their ancestors. Bishop Dunn assured us that there are still folks with lots of money who will spend it on things that they truly desire.
The Church declares the importance of temple work for all people. What an opportunity to be a part of the great work of linking all of our ancestors together into one big family. Just think of the blessings that this could bring to others as they are added to the giant family tree.

Bill and I got on our computers to learn all we could about doing family history work so we could start our business as quickly as possible. It was challenging to do this while working and taking care of 10 girls but we would squeeze in a few minutes here and there to read books or ponder internet lessons.
Our focus was to be on completing family history projects for customers. We wanted to search out their 4 generations and compile the genealogy and stories into a published book for them to share with their families and friends. We have the capability to link everyone to royalty as we are all related in some way as cousins, whether once, twice or three times removed.

Love and Logic?

2009-10-28T19:28:00.002-04:00

This is not something new, it just has a new name. This stuff has been around forever and is popular again. The reason it has come back around is because it works. Just like natural and logical consequences it makes sense to the adult and the child. Isn't that what we all want? When things make sense we do them, when we don't understand the reason why we are doing something we will fight doing it, especially if we don't want to do it in the first place.
Raising children is challenging today because they see so many different standards on TV and with their friends. Seldom are they told "no". I mean the kind of "no" that does not quickly become a "yes" because the parent or teacher is worn down by the child's arguments or reasoning. Do not try to reason with a child. Tell them the reason that they need to do something, like behaving might keep them from getting into trouble or that a sweater will help to keep them warm, but reasoning does not compute in their world.
Love is what we are all about. First a child needs to know that you love them. You do this by telling them and then acting like you care about what happens to them. What's that old saying? "They don't care about what you know until they know how much you care." We take care of children and help them when they need it or ask for assistance. Some children act sick to get attention. You do not need to take them to the doctor all of the time, sometimes just give them a little extra time and tenderness and a drink of water and they will get better.
Logic is shown when we use "I statements". "I will listen to you when you are talking quietly like me" or, I want you to eat here in the dining room with us so please speak kindly so you don't have to eat alone at the kitchen table". These types of statements let the child know your expectations and what the consequences are for following your directions.
For more good one line statements follow this link http://www.loveandlogic.com/articles.html#all
I love learning about parenting. Wish that I had known all of this when my children were young. Oh yeah, some of this I did use with my children, it just didn't have a title, or a CD, or a book to follow. Happy parenting!!!

Natural & Logical Parenting

2009-07-13T14:12:00.009-04:00

I am not an expert on much in this world but I certainly am having a lot of experience in parenting and I am learning useful things in the process.
One truth that has been revealed to me is how much children want to be nourished and to feel respected. They need to know that someone loves them and cares about their thoughts and feelings. They also need to learn what is appropriate behavior and what is not for any situation. It has also become obvious to me that some methods of discipline accomplish the opposite reaction for self discipline and self reliance. The method that has consistently produced outstanding results is natural and logical consequences.
While raising my 3 biological children I made several mistakes. (Most new parents do because children do not come with an explicit set of instructions.) All children are different and react to situations with their own unique set of characteristics. They need to exercise their free agency to make wrong choices and learn from their experiences. That is what natural consequences are. Once a child (or adult) learns that the consequences of good behavior are much more comfortable than the consequences for wrong choices they govern themselves and make more good choices. If you go outside in the cold and do not wear a jacket you will get cold. If you walk across the floor with muddy feet you will have to clean up the mud from the floor. It is our responsibility to point these consequences out to our children and follow through with each uncomfortable consequence no matter how much we dislike seeing our precious young ones suffering because of their choices.

Some articles I have read suggest that consequences should not be used for children under 3 years of age. I have seen them used in the baby cottage at the Home where I work for children as young as 14 months. The crazy couple who works there and takes care of 6-8 children under 6 years old has a good grasp on how this works. Those little ones will sit fairly quiet and still in church for 45 minutes without the use of food or crayons. I do not know their secrets but I will find out how they do it and include that in another post. My 16 year old girls are fairly quiet and well behaved during church because they know that we will have a family meeting after church and they want to be able to add to our discussion on what the preacher talked about and what parts they agreed or disagreed with.

I have included links to some sites that may have ideas you can use. You will have to copy and paste them into your browser because I have not learned how to attach them as links.

Please ask any questions that arise from your reading and I will furnish examples of natural and logical consequences to use in a variety of situations. Many of my best consequences have been presented by my girls when I asked them what would be a logical consequence for their bad choice.

Links to natural & logical websites.

http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Natural_Consequences

http://www.rpeurifoy.com/parentng/logiccon.htm

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1547A.pdf

http://www3.extension.umn.edu/distribution/familydevelopment/W00019.html

http://childparenting.about.com/library/weekly/aa102703a.htm

http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/CA/fosterparents/training/natlog/nat01.htm

http://www.ces.purdue.edu/providerparent/PDF%20Links/NaturalLogicalConsequences.pdf

Natural & Logical

2009-07-02T16:53:00.002-04:00

What is a natural and logical consequence for not saving enough money for retirement? You are so right - it's working until you die.

Bill and I never thought we would still be employed well into our sixties. We had hoped that life would somehow, magically, create enough funds for us to eventually stop working. Yes, we have enjoyed ourselves throughout all of our adventures. Yes, there have been some wonderful years of togetherness since we turned 60. Our employment was in the same school for 2 years and then almost 4 years together here at the Home. Amazingly we are still speaking to each other. In fact we love working together.

For our next adventure we would like to work together from our home in Florida. If not, then we will continue to be employed here and do our best to teach our teen age girls that:
all choices have natural and logical consequences.

Our New Home

2009-04-06T10:05:00.003-04:00

We are beginning to accept the fact that we now own another home. Actually we own 2 homes and when we go "off" tomorrow it will be a challenge to move from 1 home to another in 9 short days. After a plane ride to Dundee and a good night's sleep tomorrow we will arise early Wed. and drive to Lehigh Acres and meet with our tile man to decide how much tile Bill and I will buy later in the day. We will also meet with a locksmith and a handyman to get things moving while we are back in Dundee packing the "stuff" that is lying around that house. It just makes sense to tile the great room area and the bathrooms before we move everything into the house. Hopefully we will get it all arranged and get back to Dundee so we can pack on Thurs., Fri, & Sat. Sunday we will attend church and rest. Monday the movers come at 9:00am and shift all of our junk into a truck and transport it to Lehigh Acres and put it in our beautiful new home. Mon., Tues. & Wed. nights we will sleep in our new home and then on Thurs. we will drive back to Dundee and set things up to stage that house for selling and catch our plane back to NC by 3:00pm. We come back on duty at noon on Fri. the 17th. This schedule should keep us busy and out of trouble but does not provide much resting time. We are just so thankful to have a well constructed home at a price that we can afford while we ponder upon retiring with a much smaller income. We have gone from "poverty" to "plenty" and are not wanting to be too poverty prone. I am sure that we will always have some type of income producing activity so that we can afford to travel a bit and eat (basic necessities). Life is very good and we are blessed with health and with each other at least for a little while longer. So many of our ancestors died younger than we are which is not all that bad since they missed out on bodies that grow old and trying to live on a too small income when you are way too old to earn much money. Faith keeps us going and laughter keeps us smiling. We love all of you out there who read this and hope you enjoy our ramblings.

How To Almost Buy A House!!!

2009-03-30T22:31:00.003-04:00

It has been an exciting ride. We've dodged a few pot holes. It is almost a done deal. The money was wired this morning (we had to drive all of the way to Virginia to a Wachovia). The papers never arrived by Fed Ex (oops on the part of the closer who did not get them to her local Kinkos early enough on Sat.). Did you know there is a national company that will send a notary to your home for an emergency document signing party? They will even deliver it to Fed Ex and send it back to the inept closer for you. The closer does have my sympathy though. She has a cold and it is the end of the month and they are super busy and she had to work late on Fri. and most of Sat. Not a job that I would ever want again. It was also partly the fault of the lender because they did not get the documents to the closer until Fri. The lender was still bugging us on Thursday for more information (like the actual name of the owner of the house-as if we would know). It turned out to be Deutsch Bank. Who would guess? So now we will sleep peacefully and see what tomorrow will bring. It might be the dawn of a new chapter in our lives with our beautiful new home and all of it's challenges. (I am going to buy a garage door opener) Good Night!

My Zazzle Gallery!

2009-02-16T23:33:00.001-05:00

create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Here We Go Again or How To Buy A House In Lehigh Acres.

2009-02-10T20:27:00.020-05:00

With our Realtor, Stel.
Checking out one of 26 homes.

Entering another home.

And another home.

Garage door with class.

Here we go into 408 Parkdale.
This is the one!!!

This is my new kitchen.
LOOK!! It even has appliances.

Master bathroom bathtub.

Great room with a wood burning fireplace.

Bill's media room for his TV and surround sound.

Third time is a charm. After 3 months of looking and 3 offers it is about time.

At 2:00pm today we put in an offer and by 4:45pm the bank accepted it. Now we will get a home inspection done - but this house looks good. It has air conditioning, doors, sinks and a fireplace. What more could we ask for?

HOW DO YOU BUY A HOUSE IN LEHIGH ACRES?

Getting a GOOD Realtor is sooooo important. (Our Realtor is Stel Vodev with Century 21 and she is the best. Call her at 239-246-4023.) Looking at dozens of homes is also a part of the process. Looking at homes on the same day that President Obama is touring the area where you are buying your home (because it has more foreclosed homes than anywhere else in the USA) is also a must. Finding a home that you love that does not already have a contract on it is kind of nice, too.

All of the homes that we looked at were damaged by people who stole parts of them to sell. If a house has a water system for the well then you can bet that it doesn't have the AC condenser. From interior doors, to kitchen cabinet knobs, to the kitchen sink, parts of that home are just gone. When you find one that you like and it is close to being complete then you make an offer FAST. If you are not fast enough someone else will be making an offer on that house.

Having a GOOD loan officer is also important. (Our loan officer is Michael Gottlieb at Wells Fargo and he is good. You can call him at (239) 297-6868.) You will be pre-approved and sellers will want you to buy their house. However, if you go to the Wachovia Bank in Lehigh acres and ask them to make a copy of your savings account - so you can prove to your loan officer that you are a saver - be prepared that they may print it on bright red paper that will not fax well to your loan officer.

You also need a smart home inspector. We are using Dan Smart from JD Inspections because he was recommended from those we trust. You can reach him at 239-573-3246.
Most of all, one should have fun when buying a new home. Do it with someone that you love, and that GOOD Realtor, loan officer, and home inspector, and all will eventually fall into place and life will go on.

Check out my squidoo lens at
http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/new_workshop/strawbalegardening

What's In A Lens?

2009-02-02T10:15:00.009-05:00

That which we call a blog by any other name would read as sweet.

Have you ever heard of Squidoo?

Please read the following description of how to get started with squidoo.

"What's this all about?

Squidoo is a hand-built collection of nearly 900,000 pages built by people just like you.

Squidoo is about finding people when you care what they know instead of who they know.

And Squidoo raises big money for charity every single day by donating money from the ads and links you see on every page."

http://www.squidoo.com/squidoo

Last night I completed my first "real" lens. (The first practice one didn't count because it just didn't cut it.)
The subject is Straw bale Gardening. Bill did the research and helped write the modules but I put it all together and figured out how to make all of the parts fit into the template. Of course, I was up half of the night doing this but it was all worth it when I published it and looked at my masterpiece of information.
Now I will keep updating it and working on making some money with it so I can retire to warm, sunny Florida and live in the house that I will someday actually buy in Lehigh Acres.
You can view my great lens (which is kind of like a blog or webpage or maybe even a hub) at http://www.squidoo.com/strawbalegardening
Let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is appreciated because I want to make this a quality lens.

The Real Victor William Szot.

2009-01-25T00:40:00.004-05:00

Will the real Victor William Szot please stand up? Okay, so maybe he can just lay there all wrapped up and look precious, that will be fine. This is the real picture that goes with the impressive name. His mom sent me another picture on my cell phone and I learned how to send the picture to my email and then add it to this post. Oh yes, I am getting to be quite the techy. I even wrote a Squidoo, a HUB and put a post on Facebook. When Bill can't get his TV and sound system to work I even know which buttons to push on his remote thingy and he is soooo amazed.

I'm A Granny Again!

2009-01-21T14:21:00.006-05:00

Congratulations to my daughter, Katie, and her husband, Mike.

The latest name in our family is Victor William Szot, named after his grandpa Bill. He came into this world on January 12th in Reno, Nevada. He is joining his family of 2 brothers and a sister and, of course, his very excited mommy and daddy.

Actually, this is not a picture of Victor (or Little Bill, as we may call him). Victor has lots of beautiful brown hair. This is a picture of his brother, Duncan, but they look so much alike (and I don't have a picture to upload yet of the new little one) so I am using this one. Hopefully his mom will read this and send me a "real" picture of the right brother to announce his arrival. All of the Szot boy babies look similar but they are usually kind of bald - like this picture. I have a picture of Victor on my cell phone but I do not have a cord that will enable me to download it to my computer. So, I am stuck with this picture, but isn't he cute? Take my word that Victor is just as adorable.

I Own a Garage Door Opener

2009-01-13T18:41:00.004-05:00

It has always been my dream to have a two car garage with a fine garage door opener. You know, one of those homes where you push the button on the ceiling of your car and drive right inside to unload your clumsy bags of groceries. There have been homes that we have owned that had garages and we even owned a garage door opener once but we never had the door and the opener at the same time, so I am quite excited that the bank accepted our ridiculously low offer for a brand, spanking, new home. Yes, that gorgeous home in my last blog will be all ours - and the banks - next month.
Now all we have to do is pack, move, and sell our mobile home.

Be sure to check out the "Chicken Feet" story by Bill in our Rockbridge Roots blog. http://blimes-intothepast.blogspot.com/. We will be putting many more family stories on this site in the next few weeks.

Our Latest House!

2009-01-11T21:49:00.004-05:00

The sun shines on our happy home.

The view from the back yard.

The view from the lanai.

The master bath with a garden tub and separate shower.

Looking from the living room to the back of the house.

The front porch with columns.

My kitchen sink. Isn't it lovely?

This is Bill's media room. It is a unique floor plan with this room jutting out into the large living area.

This is the view from the front door looking towards the kitchen.

God is in His heaven and all is right with the world. Bill found his external hard drive and hid it in my chair. He misplaced it when he unpacked his computer and was so discouraged to think that he had lost all of his stuff. So, here are the pictures of what we hope will be our new home.

Our New House?

2009-01-11T18:08:00.002-05:00

This post was supposed to have pictures of the house that we put an offer on yesterday but I can only tell you how beautiful it is. I know that won't convey what I want you to see but I have no choice. When we packed up at our hotel in Ft. Myers this morning and happily went off to church we left our external hard drive sitting on the bed in the hotel room. Yes, it has all of our house pictures on it. It contains ALL of our pictures and lots more. It is how Bill keeps his computer from getting too much stuff crammed on it so he put everything that he could on his external hard drive and now it is gone. I called the nice lady at the hotel and she checked the lost and found and she found-nothing. Someone found a few clothes in a room but no one turned in anything technical so it looks like it may really be lost. Anyway, it is a really cool house and we will know by tomorrow night whether it is ours or not. So, for those of you to whom I promised pictures, sorry, I have none. I do have them in my memory but that only helps me, not you. Now I need to go and try to cheer my honey. He is rather bumbed out from losing so much of his recorded details and so many irreplaceable pictures. If our offer is accepted tomorrow we will go back down next month and take new pictures and transfer them to a CD.

A Week Without the Internet!!!

2009-01-06T14:34:00.002-05:00

It seems like forever since I was able to access the internet from my own compaq computer. What a pain. When I wanted to check my email I had to wait until Bill was not on his dell and then go and hardwire it into the cable modem. Our router would not work no matter who we called or what we did or how frustrated we got. Thanks to the help of our friend, Harvey, we are now up and running again with WIFI. We go off duty tomorrow and back to Florida- so there may be a smidgen of time during our break when I can actually compose something worth reading. Thanks for hanging in there with me while I took this unexpected pause. Thanks also to those who wrote to Dillon in South Korea. I know that it means a lot to him to hear from those he is serving, (and the encouragement for doing something so useful is good for him, too). So, adieu, for a day or two.